Flying a dog from Colombia to the US: 8 airports only

The short answer

The CDC lists Colombia among the countries at high risk for dog rabies, in its list updated on 15 April 2026. The classification applies to any dog that has been in Colombia in the 6 months before arriving in the United States — not only dogs departing from Bogotá.

If your dog was vaccinated against rabies in Colombia — the case for almost every family relocating — it falls under the rules for foreign-vaccinated dogs: a veterinary form endorsed by an official government veterinarian, a rabies serology titer, a reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility, and arrival by air directly at the airport where that facility is located.

These CDC rules are for dogs. A cat is not subject to them, although the destination state may have its own.

The 8 airports your dog can enter through

According to the CDC list updated on 1 September 2026, only these airports have a registered animal care facility. Your dog must land at one of them on an international flight, and it must be the airport shown on the CDC Dog Import Form receipt:

• Atlanta (ATL)
• Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) — DFW only, not Dallas Love Field
• Los Angeles (LAX) — the CDC says travelling as cargo is preferred to avoid clearance delays
• Miami (MIA)
• New York-JFK (JFK) — not Newark or LaGuardia
• Philadelphia (PHL)
• Seattle (SEA) — cargo-only reservations, not in-cabin or checked baggage
• Washington Dulles (IAD)

What that rules out

A Bogotá–Fort Lauderdale, Medellín–Orlando, Bogotá–Houston or Cali–Newark flight does not work for a dog vaccinated in Colombia: none of those airports has a registered facility. Nor can you land in Miami and connect onto a domestic flight: the CDC forbids any domestic travel before the dog has been through the facility where it has its reservation.

Hawaii, Alaska and the US territories (Puerto Rico included) have no registered facility. A dog vaccinated in Colombia cannot enter there.

So book the facility first, then the flight — not the other way round.

The requirements, one by one

What the CDC requires of a foreign-vaccinated dog that has been in a high-risk country in the past 6 months:

• At least 6 months old at entry.
• A microchip readable by a universal scanner, implanted BEFORE the rabies vaccine — otherwise the vaccine is invalid.
• A rabies vaccine given at 12 weeks of age or older and, if it is the first, at least 28 days before entry.
• The Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form, completed by your vet and endorsed by an official government veterinarian, no more than 30 days before travel. Valid for a single entry.
• A passing rabies serology titer from a CDC-approved laboratory: the sample is drawn at least 30 days after the first valid vaccine and at least 28 days before entry. Without a valid titer the dog can still enter, but with a 28-day quarantine at the facility.
• A reservation at the registered animal care facility at the arrival airport, covering an exam and revaccination with a US-licensed vaccine (plus quarantine if there is no titer). All costs are the owner's.
• The CDC Dog Import Form: free, online, available in Spanish; one form per dog, valid only for the arrival date shown.
• Documents in English or with a certified English translation.

The timeline the CDC suggests

The CDC publishes its own checklist. In short:

• 60 days or more before: microchip (before the vaccine), vaccine if needed, and blood draw for the titer.
• 30 days or more before: last chance for the titer (the sample must be drawn at least 28 days before travel) and the animal care facility reservation.
• No more than 30 days before: your vet completes the vaccination and microchip form, and an official vet endorses it.
• Travel week: the online CDC form, and two printed copies of the vet form (the airline may keep one).
• Travel day: arrive at the airport on the CDC receipt with the receipt, the vet form and the facility reservation confirmation.

The other requirement: screwworm

Beyond rabies, the US screens for New World screwworm. According to USDA APHIS, Colombia is not free of the parasite. A dog arriving from an affected country needs a certificate signed by an official veterinarian of the country of origin stating it was inspected within the five days before travel and found free of the parasite.

Note that this has nothing to do with rabies. Mexico and Argentina are not high-risk for rabies under the CDC, but APHIS does not list them as screwworm-free either.

New World screwworm in the US, explained

The rest of Latin America

The same logic applies across the region. According to the CDC (rabies) and APHIS (screwworm), as of the sources' dates:

• High-risk for rabies and screwworm present: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Cuba.
• Not high-risk for rabies, but screwworm present: Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua.
• Neither: Chile.

If your dog was vaccinated in the United States

If the dog lives in the US, was vaccinated there and is returning after a stay in Colombia, a different CDC regime applies, designed for US-vaccinated dogs. It differs from the one described here: check the official CDC page before travelling.